


Snapshots of a Partnership

by sasha1600



Category: Lewis (TV)
Genre: Community: lewis_challenge, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-05
Updated: 2013-01-05
Packaged: 2017-11-23 19:52:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/625928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sasha1600/pseuds/sasha1600
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Partners look after each other and fix each other’s problems.  A series of ten drabbles written for pandabob in the Lewis_Challenge Secret Santa Exchange.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pandabob](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pandabob/gifts).



> With thanks to Lygtemanden for Britpicking and beta; any remaining mistakes are, of course, my own. Thanks also to the mods of the Lewis_Challenge community on LJ for organising the Secret Santa exchange.

James’s put-upon scowl had no effect on his governor, who continued to chuckle. Dr. Hobson had informed him that Lewis wasn’t allowed to paint his own ceiling, having thrown his back out attempting it once – as a much younger man at the time – so he had dutifully turned up early Saturday morning, wearing his oldest clothes. He didn’t mind helping. He really didn’t. But he didn’t deserve to be mocked, while doing a friend a favour. James knew he looked somewhat ridiculous. But wearing a daisy-printed plastic shower cap was preferable to trying to wash paint out of his hair!


	2. Chapter 2

Hathaway’s chair was already occupied when Lewis arrived in the office, and he’d obviously been there long enough to get through most of the stack of paperwork they’d left unfinished the night before. A concerned question drew a tired reply that at least the office was warm, and further probing yielded a reluctant admission that the heating in his sergeant’s flat was broken, and couldn’t be repaired until some currently out-of-stock component arrived. Shaking his head at James’s stubborn protests, Lewis set about convincing his soon-to-be house guest that he would be occupying his spare bedroom for the foreseeable future.


	3. Chapter 3

Hathaway shot another concerned glance at his DI, who was staring, unseeing, at the battered body of the victim lying next to her mangled bicycle. Wrapping up the investigation wouldn’t take long, thanks to the CCTV camera pointed at the intersection, but he knew he’d be missing his band’s rehearsal tonight anyway. He’d suggest fish and chips at the pub, or Indian take-away. He needed to have another word with the lads in dispatch, too, James thought with a scowl. Half the station out with ’flu or not, they should know better than to send Lewis to investigate a hit-and-run.


	4. Chapter 4

Lewis set the hot, sweet tea on his Sergeant’s desk and commanded him to drink it. It had been one of those cases, beginning with a child’s body and ending with James ignoring the Chief Super’s order to wait for backup, rushing in to save another child from their suspect. He knew James generally preferred coffee, but he’s British – it’s a patriotic duty to provide tea to someone who’d had a shock. He would have added brandy, too, but Innocent was still prowling the halls, and not in any sort of mood to overlook any additional breaches of official protocol.


	5. Chapter 5

Chief Superintendant Innocent swept into the office, already speaking. ‘Robbie, Mr. Innocent is out of town, so I need you to escort me to a dinner tonight for...’

Finally noticing Lewis wasn’t at his desk, she turned questioningly towards Hathaway.

‘He’s stepped out for a moment, Ma’am.’

‘Stepped out?! Where is he?!’ she demanded.

‘I believe he’s in the loo, Ma’am,’ he replied blandly.

‘Well, tell him to come see me,’ she huffed. ‘As soon as he’s back.’

‘Yes, Ma’am.’

James waited until she left, then grabbed his mobile, texting rapidly, ‘Go home. NOW! You have stomach flu. Trust me!’


	6. Chapter 6

Lewis chose his words carefully, filling Innocent in on their progress on the case, while avoiding mention of Hathaway’s cock-up with the witnesses that had nearly cost them the only useful bit of evidence they had. He’d be giving his sergeant a right bollocking for it, later. The lad certainly deserved it. And he knew it, too, he’d wager. Most likely he’d find him in their office, looking suitably contrite, waiting to face the official consequences of his actions. But Lewis wasn’t about to let Innocent destroy James’s career over this. No, he’d be taking care of his own bagman.


	7. Chapter 7

Lewis set his bag on the floor and pushed the door shut. A quick glance around told him that nothing was out of place. More than that; the flat was spotless. The post was neatly stacked on the table, and the mug that Lewis knew he’d left drying next to the sink seemed to have made its way back to the cupboard. It looked like the floor had been recently swept, and the various surfaces dusted. James, he thought, with a fond, exasperated smile. All he’d asked the lad to do while he was visiting Lyn, was feed the cat!


	8. Chapter 8

James leaned back in his seat, reaching for a cigarette and swinging his long legs up onto a nearby chair as a footrest. A second later, he yelped and batted futilely at his ankle, twisting it awkwardly in an equally futile effort to see the damage. ‘Bee sting, I think,’ he replied, in response to Lewis’s concerned query. His protests that he really was fine were quietly ignored. Which is how he found himself with his foot held securely in place by his governor, who was scraping a bank card across his ankle in an effort to remove the stinger.


	9. Chapter 9

‘I’ve brought lentil soup, Sir,’ James called too-cheerily as he opened the door to his boss’s flat. It had taken orders from Innocent and Hobson to get Lewis to go home; it might only be a nasty cold, but nothing urgently required his attention, and there was no point letting him inflict his germs on the rest of the station. James hadn’t needed Innocent’s instructions to check up on him at the end of the day. But he wouldn’t be sharing with Lewis her deadpan suggestion that he handcuff him to the bed if necessary, to get him to rest.


	10. Chapter 10

The bells started ringing just as they handed the suspect over to the uniformed constable. It was perfect timing, Lewis thought, closing the case on Christmas Eve, and in a churchyard at that! Catching his sergeant’s wistful expression, Lewis asked him if he wanted to go inside, cutting off the polite refusal that Hathaway seemed to think was necessary with a curt gesture and a comment that he’d always liked the traditional carols. In fact, he hadn’t enjoyed Christmas since Val had died. But, climbing the steps with James at his side, he realised he actually did feel like singing.


End file.
